The acquisition was made by the publicly traded company’s wholly owned subsidiary, Lippert Components Inc.

Signature makes furniture primarily for pontoon boats, but also for other freshwater boat builders. The company says expanding in pontoons will help its long-term objective of expansion into the marine parts and accessories industry.

Signature has two manufacturing facilities in Indiana. Sales for the 12 months that ended in June were about $16 million.

"We are excited to have the Signature business and its employees join the Lippert Components family," Drew Industries president Scott Mereness said in a statement. "LCI is the leading provider of furniture solutions for the RV towable industry, and the addition of Signature provides immediate access to the pontoon boat market. Freshwater boats, and in particular pontoon boats, are a natural extension for our furniture team. LCI's growth in furniture solutions for the RV market has largely been due to a continual commitment to innovation, design and customer service. We believe that same approach will lead to similar results in the pontoon boat industry. Beyond the marine market, we expect to utilize the Signature team to develop furniture solutions for the RV motorhome market, as well."

The purchase price was $16 million, which was paid at closing from borrowings under the company’s $100 million line of credit, plus contingent consideration based on future sales.

The company says it is still poised to continue with investment opportunities and acquisitions.

"Signature Seating will continue to flourish under the additional leadership of the LCI team," said Signature CEO Rob Roehm, who will remain with LCI to help manage the business. "Our objective is to grow both our marine and motorhome furniture markets, and LCI brings the experience and the capital to accelerate the growth in our furniture business."

Shannon Angle, a 15-year veteran of LCI's furniture operation, under the direction of Ryan Smith, vice president of Lippert Interiors, will lead these two new furniture markets for LCI.

“We estimate that the market size for pontoon boat furniture is approximately $125 million, and we believe that Signature's strong relationships in the pontoon boat markets will help accelerate our growth in this adjacent industry, which is part of our long-term plan for strategic growth,” Mereness said.

“Further, we expect to leverage our purchasing, sales, distribution and administrative capabilities to improve the profitability of this business, and we expect this acquisition to be immediately accretive to Drew's earnings."

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